


by the time the curtain falls

by allobella



Category: The Beatles, Touhou Project
Genre: 60s' AU, Friendship, bc I'd probably hand out spoilers, idk what to put here anyways
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 04:18:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12856599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allobella/pseuds/allobella
Summary: Well, Lunasa's beginning to worry (never a good thing to have her worry), Merlin's somehow hopeful about their situation, and Lyrica's somewhere in between the two. And Layla? Layla's running late and ends up running into someone she thought she'd never meet.





	by the time the curtain falls

"When is Layla going to get here? It's already ten minutes to three!"

    The blonde girl, the tallest of the three, paced back and forth in the studio, muttering different notes beneath her breath so as not to lose her cool. This wasn't the first time her youngest sister had been late to their recording sessions— far from it, in fact. Even if these tardies had happened enough for Lunasa to almost consider it normal, it still made her stomach bunch up in coils at what could have happened.

    "Lunasa, don't worry. It's probably not anything to worry about. Every time before Layla's gotten here unscathed. What makes you think something will have happened to her now of all times?" Her sister began to press down on the shiny buttons of a trumpet, letting out a cheerful toot from her well-polished instrument.

    "I know that, Merlin. But just because nothing bad's happened yet doesn't mean it couldn't." Lunasa tapped on the edge of her piano, balling the hem of her skirt in her fist.

    "Calm down, Lunasa. While I haven't been able to reach Layla from any of the phones down here, doesn't mean anything." The youngest of the three sisters, Lyrica, bit into an apple with a loud crunching noise. "And coming from you, Merlin, Layla getting here 'unscathed'… You were the one who thought it was a good idea to wander off without our manager to come with us. I find your idea of 'not anything to worry about' a little optimistic."

    Merlin's mouth formed a huffy pout, pale blue eyes narrowing at her sister's harsh words. "That was just once, Lunasa. And I'm still in one piece. You just worry too much about Layla. She's responsible, she'll be able to take care of herself." Her eyes lit up at a sudden possibility— "Maybe she's just running late at the airport, and the plane hasn't gotten here yet!"

    "I doubt that," Lyrica sighed. She squinted at the remaining core of her snack before disposing of it. "But your guesses are just as good as mine. Realistically, though, she'll be accompanied by our manager— Miss White— so I think she'll be a lot safer. Then again, there's that other band who's performing nearby us. What was their name again? 'Ruttles'? 'Beetles'?"

    "Beatles," Merlin corrected her.

    "…Their fans are perhaps even more reckless than ours. Besides, with someone like Layla as our sister…" Lyrica shook her head, raking her fingers through her tidy brown hair.

    "No matter how much we love or fuss over her, there's just no way to tell what she could be doing."

* * *

 

Layla Prismriver fled the airport, trying to keep up with her much nimbler manager. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ She berated herself. _Why couldn't I have just… Well, there's not anything I can do about it now._ She sprinted ahead, away from the mass of teenage boys after her. She pushed her way through inquisitive reporters hungry for a scoop, busy photographers whose flashing cameras made her wince and lose grasp on her vision.

    She gave a strangled cry of "Lily!" Before realizing that her manager had vanished into one of the cabs ahead. Of course, with her manager being of such short and almost childlike height, there was most likely no way she would be able to find her in the neatly lined up black taxi cabs.

    They were behind her now, their screams all blending into one noise that rang in her ears.

_Calm down. Just do what Merlin says. "Look for the good in every bad situation", right?_

    The only good thing Layla could see was that there was already a car in front of her, her quickest form of escape. Stumbling away, she waved a cheery goodbye to her fans before sliding into the backseat of the taxi cab, slamming the door shut.

    "Excuse me, sir, I'm Layla Prismriver. The singer, from the Phantom Ensemble. I need to get to—" The remaining words were caught in her throat when she realized she wasn't the only person in the back seat. And the voice next to her sounded rather familiar. A voice she had heard many times on television, a voice she had heard singing. Layla found herself chewing on a thin strand of green hair. Was it really…?

    Turning her head, Layla found herself sitting next to someone she never thought she'd have ever met in her life.

 

**Author's Note:**

> there's a monty python reference hidden in there somewhere if you can find it. there's an imaginary brownie for every person who can point it out.
> 
> as stated before in the summary, this is an AU: an AU where the prismriver sisters are a girls' band known as the 'Phantom Ensemble', forming after the tragic death of their parents. they're pretty popular, but not nearly as recognized as the beatles are. and they're on tour in london… of course, with me imagining layla as the whimsical soul she is, there's no wonder she'll be late.
> 
> for your information, lunasa, merlin, and lyrica hold the same roles as they do in the original touhou games. layla is the main vocalist of their band, while lyrica is one of the backups who also writes their songs.
> 
> I've always interpreted the sisters as having personalities that correspond to the roles they take. lunasa, the eldest sister who plays 'depressing' notes, has a pessimistic and worrying personality. merlin, who plays the chaotic and upbeat notes, is cheerful and happy-go-lucky. lyrica I consider to be a middle ground, the everygirl I guess— and Layla is sort of a 'figment' or 'dream' in the original gensokyo, so she has a somewhat spacey and whimsical personality who only really focuses on what's really important.
> 
> okay, enough of my ramblings on how I've carefully concocted each sister's personality. it's probably better to just let the story unfold on its own.


End file.
